COMPOSERS: Various
LABELS: World Circuit
PERFORMER: Omara Portuondo
CATALOGUE NO: WCD 059
Wave after wave of Cuban musical archaeology continues to break on the world’s welcoming shores. Following her male colleagues from Buena Vista Social Club, OMARA PORTUONDO has launched a solo album in the same engaging period vein of son geriatrico.
Hers is a lyrical and lived-in voice, easy with its inbuilt tragic expressive qualities from the start and content with a laid-back pace as she runs through the familiar styles in a cornucopia of arrangements, from plush strings to rasping big-band via the suave clarinet trio that Compay Segundo likes to use.
The old rogue himself plays guitar for that track, and most of the other famous names put in a guest appearance.